Associate Director of Research & Practice

Position Description
The Associate Director, Research & Practice builds engagement strategies, formalizes documentation and tracking processes, and creates and supports the training and onboarding of teaching artists within Play On Shakespeare’s Research & Practice department, working alongside the Director, Research & Practice to develop expanding programs and execute department logistics for the company’s dramaturgical and educational initiatives. This role will also support the organization and booking of workshops, the engagement and training of teaching artists, and support departmental administrative and logistical needs. This role collaborates closely with all departments within Play On Shakespeare, as well as with company leadership. The Associate Director of Research & Practice upholds Play On Shakespeare’s values of anti-racism, access, and equity, ensuring these principles are embedded in artistic and educational strategies.

Key Responsibilities
Teaching Artist Cohort Development and Engagement
In collaboration with the Director of Research & Practice and the Executive Director, build and establish a teaching artist cohort.
Support the development of curriculum and documentation of the teaching artist cohort, and create recruitment, onboarding, and training strategies with the Director in the development of this roster.
Maintain, and update as needed, the teaching artist roster in platforms such as Airtable, Google Drive, and Monday.com, as appropriate.
Maintain outreach and communication with the department’s teaching artists, ensuring ongoing engagement with Play On between bookings.
Collaborate with the Director, Research & Practice and Director of Partnerships to assess booking strategies for workshops, teaching artist residencies, and appropriateness of projects across the organization. Establish systems with this team to communicate and assess opportunities.
Coordinate travel, hospitality, and logistics for traveling teaching artists and department staff and contractors in support of engagement, development, and training activities, as well as project travel and logistics.
Curriculum Development and Maintenance
Steward the development of toolkits and other standardized training materials and documentation within teaching artist programs and department curriculum, with input from the Director and Play On leadership.
Document and maintain learning assets and delivery models for department programs and company educational initiatives.
Manage implementation of curriculum delivery models and learning resources, and restructure or refine as indicated by outcomes.
Build a curriculum archive and tracking process, and train company members and teaching artists using the archive in its protocols.
Assist in the development of evaluation models for the department, and within the organization as requested and with partnership of the Director.
Assist in development of all learning asset collateral.
Community Development and Artist Support
Project manage the development of a Play On Method collaborative online learning space.
Collaborate with the Director, Research & Practice to define the values and intention of community spaces, including the development of online learning spaces and engagement strategies.
Collaborate with all relevant departments to build out the infrastructure of community learning spaces.
Plan and coordinate programming and program assets for the development of online spaces for the department.
Collaborate with Partnerships and Marketing departments to ensure all programming and programming needs are coordinated across the organization.
Core Competencies and Traits
Strategic & Visionary Thinker – Demonstrated experience in developing theater-based or arts-based learning-driven programs that align with organizational goals.
Community Leadership – Experience in designing and implementing community programs and/or community engagement platforms.
Learning Materials Proficiency – Skilled in managing and curating educational collateral materials.
Collaborative & Inclusive – Committed to fostering an equitable and accessible work culture.

Salary: $80,000 annually 

Benefits: 403b plan with employer contributions, generous leave policy, home office stipend, flexible work hours, Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage with Employee premiums 100% company paid and dependents covered at 90%

Education requirements: None

Deadline to apply: October 15, 2025 

Documents required to apply: Resume, other 

How to apply: Visit the website to see the full job posting and submit an application.